Global Waldorf

Articles

The Rise of Alternative Education in China
When five-year-old Xiao Ge starts primary school in Guangzhou next year, she won't endure strict discipline and mountains of homework. Unlike the school life of most children in China, her days will be filled with art, music and creative learning at a private Waldorf school. Read moreCNN March 27, 2014

A Waldorf School in China

In the New Yorker, Ian Johnson writes about the spread of Waldorf Education in China. He spent time with Harry Huang and his wife, Zhang Li, who started the Chengdu Waldorf School after becoming frustrated with the rigidity of the Chinese educational system. The school, which opened in southwestern China in the fall of 2004, now has more than three hundred students, and a five-year waiting list; thanks in large part to Huang and Li, the Waldorf model is “quickly becoming one of the most influential countercultures” in China. Read moreThe New Yorker February 3, 2014

Research Papers - Outcomes for Steiner School Students
This is an interesting site that includes links to a number of articles and research documents relating to 'Outcomes for Steiner School Students' posted on the “Education, Audiovisual and Culture Executive Agency” which is “responsible for the management of certain parts of the EU's programs in the fields of education, culture, and audiovisual.” Read moreWREN (Waldorf Research Educators Network)

Tilda Swinton Supportive of Private Steiner Schools
Tilda Swinton defended parents' rights to opt out of state education in favour of the Steiner Waldorf Education system which her own twin kids attend.Read moreThe Scotsman October 2013

Waldorf One World day September 26, 2013
On Thrusday, September 26, Waldorf students and teachers from all over the world will be engaged in work on behalf of disadvantaged children in an effort to give them access to a Waldorf Education and to improve their circumstances. With the money earned on last year’s (2012) WOW-Day (approx. €390.000), the WOW project was able to assist sixty projects in 24 countries. These projects included one-day jobs, walkathons, handwork and selling activities, circus performances, and many other wonderful activities that helped to improve the living conditions of children all over the world. Everyone is welcome to take part: find out details at the WOW Website.
Here you can read about the results from the last WOW-Day:http://www.freunde-waldorf.de/fileadmin/user_upload/images/WOW_Reiter/1308_WOW-Day_2012_Thanks.pdf

Eurythmy: Allowing the Soul to Sing
A parent reports on a workshop in Quezon City in the Philippines called "Indayog: Healing Through Movement.” She writes: “The session that day was all about eurythmy therapy for children. The press release read: "Can healing actually happen through movement?" And that is the charm of it: healing sans the drugs, chemicals, and intrusion. Can one get better through dance, motion, freedom?”

One of Glasgow's best known independent schools is being forced to close four months after a blaze caused serious damage. Read MoreEvening Times July 19, 2013

Share Offer Opens as Energy Scheme Eyes Steiner Solar Project

This summer will see the installation of the first community-owned ‘solar array’ – the name given to a collection of solar panels – in South West Herts on the Rudolf Steiner School campus in Langley Hill. Read more Hemel Today June 6, 2013

Kings Langley Rudolf Steiner School Alum Sarine Sofair to star on big screen in The Look of Love
Sarine Sofair caught the acting bug in Kings Langley Rudolf Steiner School and now is preparing to see herself on the big screen alongside Steve Coogan and Stephen Fry. The young actress attended the Rudolf Steiner School between the ages of four and 18, where she says she was always involved in numerous plays showcasing her dance talents. These talents will now be on show in new cinema release The Look of Love, where she plays 1970s actress Yvonne Charles alongside acting stars including Steve Coogan, Stephen Fry, Anna Friel, Matt Lucas and Imogen Poots in the film directed by Michael Winterbottom. Read moreWatford Observer April 18, 2013

Fortunately there was no one hurt in either disaster, however, 70 cows were lost in the fire at the farm in Jarna. The biodynamic farm supplies milk to many in Sweden, so the impact will be far-reaching. In the days following the fire over 1,000 people gathered to make a circle to honor the animals lost in the tragedy.

Both fires are being investigated for arson in their respective neighborhoods. Keep these communities in your best thoughts as the cause of the fires is sorted out. Keep high thoughts for spirit in education and agriculture without generating animosity. We will keep you posted of any appeals for support from these communities. Many thanks go to Jeremy Smith at Kings Langley in Hertfordshire, Great Britain, for getting this news to us as quickly as he has.

Blessings on this time of resurrection forces! - Patrice Maynard AWSNA April 2 , 2013

The quest for the spiritual in the musical has been the dominant preoccupation of Jonathan Harvey’s since his earliest works. Rudolf Steiner’s philosophy has been an acknowledged influence on the composer, who has made a career of exploring what Steiner described as “the special character of the individual note”, which “expands into a melody and harmony leading straight into the world of the spirit”. So when Swiss theologian Hans Küng and the Berlin Philharmonic were looking for a composer to set Küng’s massive new libretto as a full-length spiritual work for chorus and orchestra Harvey was the natural choice. Read more The Art Desk October 8, 2012

Picture yourself on an awesome sound trip, one of those moments when your iPod shuffles your tunes exactly the way you want it. Even better, imagine sound-tripping with live music like that from a freshly-tuned piano or a guitar so carefully plucked you can hear the sound of the musician’s fingertips gently rubbing against the strings at every chord shift. Arte Nova Eurythmy Ensemble, a youth group from Switzerland headed by Tanja Baumgartner, is on tour in the Philippines this month. Read more The Philippine Star October 5, 2012

Waldorf alum Bethany Woodward first competed in athletics at Rudolf Steiner School’s annual sports day at the age of 11. Eight years later she claimed silver and bronze medals at the Paralympics. Read moreWatford Observer September 6, 2012

Steiner Teacher Runs for Mayor in Australia
Byron Shire Greens councillor Simon Richardson is the party's mayoral candidate for the upcoming local government election. The announcement was made at Bangalow Farmers Market on Saturday, when Mayor Jan Barham officially passed on the baton, proclaiming "an exciting new team for the Greens." Cr Richardson is a teacher at the Cape Byron Steiner School and lives in Federal with his wife Jane and three-year-old daughter Frida. Read moreByron Shire News June 13, 2012

Not many pupils come up with the idea of travelling 60 miles along a canal in their very own creation as part of a class project. But 14-year-old Kitty Vickers, a pupil at the Edinburgh Steiner School, did exactly that – then climbed Scotland’s highest peak afterwards for fun. The teenager built her own kayak and paddled from Fort William to Inverness along the Caledonian Canal as part of a five day journey – an achievement made even more impressive by the fact it was her first major kayaking trip. Canal Trek Read moreScotsman June 9, 2012

Choreographer and Waldorf alum Nicola Elliott is the most recent recipient of the Theatre Arts Admin Collective Emerging Theatre Directors Bursary, supported by Gordon Institute for Performing and Creative Arts (GIPCA) and the Baxter Theatre. Her latest production, Fragile, was staged at the Theatre Arts Admin Collective last week. She says her relationship with dance has been a meandering journey. “I went to a Waldorf school where movement in the forms of Eurythmy and Botha Gym are integrated into the curriculum. Then there were other experiences – dabbling with tai chi, yoga, synchronised ice skating. So it has been quite an eclectic collage and very much off the beaten track”, she said. Read moreCape Times May 15, 2012

Excessive screen time is no longer merely a cultural issue about how children spend their leisure time. Screen time is a medical issue. Research published in the world’s most
reputable medical and scientific journals shows that the sheer amount of time children spend watching TV, DVDs, computers and the internet is linked with significant measurable biological changes in their bodies and brains that may have significant medical consequences. Given that children undergoing key stages of development are spending increasingly large parts of their lives watching screen media, the EU must take a serious interest and establish a view on the matter. The following research article provides the reasons why. Read more (17 page pdf) by Dr Aric Sigman Health Education Lecturer, Fellow of the Society of Biology, Associate Fellow of the British Psychological Society August 2010

China has long been known for its highly disciplined approach to education, but parents and lawmakers alike are beginning to question the wisdom of putting so much pressure on young children. In recent years, China has seen a major expansion of alternative teaching establishments such as those that operate under the educational principles of Austrian philosopher Rudolf Steiner. Those schools — known in China as Waldorf schools — begin teaching reading, writing and maths at a later stage than most traditional establishments, and place a greater emphasis on other skills such as music and drawing. Read moreThe Daily Times March 14, 2012

Holland-based Miriam is in town for a series of lectures and workshops on child development and education. An educator, teacher trainer and child development specialist, she has been working with children and teachers in Europe, India and the Middle East for over 35 years. Blending the Western concepts of Anthroposophy and Waldorf education with ancient Indian philosophy, Miriam researches value-based education. She has been shuttling between India and Holland for the past few years and has mentored many Waldorf Kindergarten projects in the country. Read moreThe Hindu March 13, 2012

Molding the Minds and Lives of Children
A new teaching course for Waldorf teachers in Coimbatore, India, will begin in June. "There are times when I speak to the people about how the educational system must be, and teachers and parents exclaim at the fact that education can be made interesting as well," said Miriam Haenen, an educationist from Holland, who follows the Waldorf Education system, which makes education interesting to students through activities and games. Read moreThe Times of India March 11, 2012

Anna Davis, who graduated from Glenaeon Rudolf Steiner School last year, is a deeper thinker than most. “I’ve always been interested in the question of the meaning of life and religion,” she said. “We did a lot of study on ancient religion and moved to modern systems and beliefs.” Read more North Shore Times February 20, 2012

A flurry of questions, inquisitive glances and bewildered looks abound at the Yellow Train School in Coimbatore, India as the center conducts their WOW Science program, designed to kindle students' imaginations. Read moreDeccan Chronicle February 16, 2012

In Dunedin there is a Rudolf Steiner School where large yurts are used as classrooms, and \in Nelson people have enjoyed the ambience of the large yurt used as a performance venue at The Freehouse. What is it like to live or work in a yurt? Read moreNelson Mail February 2, 2012

A lively article criticizes the mainstream approach to education in the United States and mentions that alternatives like Waldorf Education turn out to have been islands of sanity in a sea of delusion, and describes the benefits of the Waldorf curriculum. Read moreAsia Times January 31, 2011

Although Uwe Jacquet's father was one of the founders of the Dresden Waldorf School, he himself missed out on a good part of his Waldorf Education because of the war. Instead he became a respected and beloved Waldorf teacher at Michael Hall as well as other schools. His firmness, temper, humor, extraordinary craftsmanship, energy, and love were cherished by his students. From the article: "Uwe Jacquet's 'Lantern Main Lesson' has become part of the class eight curriculum at Michael Hall. The pupils tend to be sceptical at first, doubtful that they can manage the fine filigree work with a cutting mat and a scalpel. They quickly gain confidence, however, after the first attempts and end up astounded at the beautiful pictures they produce." Read more

Article in a Scottish journal talks about Waldorf Education as an alternative to the mainstream curriculum. Although there are only about 30 Steiner schools across the UK and Ireland, there are more than 880 worldwide and the distinctive ideology attracts parents who are keen to see their child’s creativity enhanced. The Steiner system follows its own curriculum but this does not mean children are cut off from traditional exam structures. Read moreThe Scotsman January 15, 2012

Tanja is where Jessica Bramley-Alves went to the Mumbulla School for Rudolf Steiner Education in Bega. She's now a scientist working in Antarctica, completing climate change research for the University of Wollongong. Listen to the InterviewAustralian Broadcasting Corporation January 6, 2012

Gemma Bowker-Wright had barely begun her writing career when she won the two biggest short-story competitions in the country. Bowker-Wright grew up in Hastings, where she attended a Rudolf Steiner school, which she credits with giving her a love of books. Read moreThe Dominion Post January 8, 2012

She says, "My children are my kind of political laboratory. I am very much involved in their education. My children go to a Waldorf Steiner School. I am very involved in trying to build a further program for the school so that they can stay in that project until they’re 18." Read more Entertainment Inquirer January 7, 2012

The International Baccalaureate diploma will be offered for the first time at Sophia Mundi Steiner School in Abbotsford this year, starting at year 11. The prestigious International Baccalaureate diploma, which is offered at 16 independent schools in Victoria, is an alternative to the VCE, is recognized by universities worldwide. Read more The Age January 5, 2012

More than 100 students at Rudolf Steiner School in Totnes were among the first in the region to catch a glimpse of a beautiful replica of the 4,500-year-old Gold Lyre of Ur, which was discovered by archaeologists in a royal Mesopotamian tomb in 1929. Read moreThis is Devon November 26, 2011

The faculty of Manila Waldorf School has been quite busy after the semestral break with the visit of Gabriele Niemann, one of the mentors of MWS who has helped the faculty in many different facets of teaching in a Waldorf/Steiner school. Read moreEverything Waldorf November 22, 2011

Waldorf alum Dr. Mary Fortune (Edinburgh Rudolf Steiner School) recently returned from working in the Australian Outback, where she says the Aboriginees who live there are more often than not homeless and malnourished, and have been all but forgotten by the Australian Health Service. Her vital work in the Outback was first filmed for a two part documentary, shown in 2009. Last month a follow-up BBC series, called Dr Fortune’s Australian Casebook, showed her returning once more, this time to work in the Ord Valley Aboriginal Health Service, based in Kununurra. Read moreExpress.co.uk October 23, 2011

The "Good School Guides" for UK students says that the "underpinning Steiner-Waldorf education is a belief that children should be enthusiastic about, and enjoy, learning for its own sake; not to pass exams. As a result enquiry and exploration are encouraged." Read moreThe Good Schools Guide 2011

A new publication for 7- to 12-year-olds, based on anthroposophic principles, is intended to be 'a refuge for the imagination in a loud and boisterous world,' says its editor, Rinat Primo. Read moreHaaretz October 14, 2011

The Guardian (U.K.) has a travel piece that advises visitors to Switzerland to "take a tram to the Goetheanum in neighbouring Dornach. The centre of Rudolf Steiner's anthroposophy movement, this vast, visionary 1928 structure in cast concrete is built without a single right angle and is rich in sculptural forms, murals and stained glass."Read moreThe Guardian October 7, 2011

Students at Michael Hall School, in Sussex, England achieved spectacular results in their exams. According to faculty chair Jo Reeves: "To achieve this we provide a broad education in a supportive environment and it is through the breadth and depth of our education that our students can achieve such sparkling results." Read more This is Sussex September 1, 2011

The Rudolf Steiner School, Mbagathi, on the outskirts of Nairobi in Kenya recently celebrated another milestone with the completion of four new kindergarten classrooms. Judith Brown, a teacher at the school, looks back over more than two decades of school development. But as she also explains, the school still has plenty more plans for the future. Read moreNNA News August 31, 2011

Thomas Hughes, a Year 13 student at Taikura Rudolf Steiner School, spent last week wheelchair-bound as part of his Recreational Therapy studies at the school. He said he wanted to challenge himself and raise awareness of people who required wheelchairs for their whole lives. Read moreHawke's Bay Today July 15, 2011

Harald Hanke, a student at Waldorf Private School in Namibia, recently won an essay competition on the topic: "The 21st Century African Learner: What should the Namibian Education System do to ensure all learners leave school adequately prepared for life in the modern world?" Hanke is still trying to decide on whether he would like to become a teacher or an architect. Read moreNambia Economist July 1, 2011

Former soccer star and coach Jackie Hadden will make history when she is inducted into the USA's Central Connecticut State University Athletics Hall of Fame on April 29th. The soccer prodigy represented Australia from junior to senior levels while still at Lorien Novalis School for Rudolf Steiner Education in Dural. Read moreRouse Hill Times April 14, 2011

Education World fore survey of Indian day schools features the country's first Waldorf School.

Founded in 1997, the Sloka Waldorf School in Hyderabad has been ranked as the 15th most respected schools of India. Sloka School has scored high marks in all twelve educational parameters, which were taken into account by the Education World survey. In the fields of parental involvement (No.5), co-curricular education (6) and competence of faculty (9) the school has even made the Top 10. Read more March 23, 2011

At India's first rural Waldorf school near Mulshi students have no bags or textbooks, but are given a wholesome education --heart, hand along with the mind!Study books and school bags are replaced by playful learning. Children in Sadhana English School can be seen weaving, knitting or dancing along with their classroom studies. The internationally-renowned Waldorf Education system has made this possible. Read herePune Mirror January 19, 2011

Premier Putin visiting the Waldorf School in Moscow N1060 for an educational meeting and to present the Waldorf School Director and Mathematics teacher Michael Sluch with a 'best teacher in Russia' award. Premier Putin said "such schools are schools for the future". View video hereEuropean Council for Steiner Waldorf Education January 2011

Spaces in a Waldorf school... the theme begins with inner space expressing itself as outer space. Do we in our schools have inner spaces for our children or ourselves as teachers? Should a five year old learn about the solar system... where is the inner space to wonder about the 'moving sun' or the 'moving moon'? As a teacher am I bogged down by the need to complete my portion... or can I have the time and space to learn as I work with the learners...wonder with them before thinking about something?

Read the article by a teacher at Abhaya, a Waldorf school in Kompally, Hyderabad Read hereTeacher Plus December 1, 2010

Gitte Lassen, Head of Parents Assocation for a Waldorf school Iceland, recently returned from attending the 5th annual meeting of the International Steiner Waldorf Parents Network, ISWPN, in Norway. She writes about the lectures and gatherings, and how inspiring the experience was, and hopes that even more countries are represented at next year's meeting. Read the article here (pdf)

Emerging theatre director, writer, and actor Sophie Roberts, now aged 28, who attended Michael Park, a Steiner school in Auckland, is the director of the American satire "Dog Sees God: Confessions of a Teenage Blockhead." Inspired by Charles M. Schulz's classic comic strip, it's billed as the unauthorized account of what happened when Charlie Brown and his friends went to high school. Read more...nzherald.co.nz September 25, 2010

On Friday, October 1, Waldorf students and teachers from all over the world will be engaged in work on behalf of disadvantaged children in an effort to give them access to a Waldorf Education and to improve their circumstances. With the money earned on last year’s (2009) WOW-Day (approx. € 278.000), the WOW project was able to assist forty projects in twenty countries. These projects included one-day jobs, walkathons, handwork and selling activities, circus performances, and many other wonderful activities that helped to improve the living conditions of children all over the world. Everyone is welcome to take part: find out details at the WOW website September 2010

The Gamot Cogon School was initially intended to serve the elementary education needs of children from farm families in the community, but its novel approach has attracted parents from the city who feel that they have found the “right” place for their children. Read more Sunday Inquirer June 5, 2010

A major quantitative and qualitative study of senior secondary students in the three largest Steiner schools in Australia was undertaken by Jennifer Gidley in the mid-nineties. It investigated the Steiner-educated students’ views and visions of the future, replicating a major study with a large cross-section of mainstream and other private school students undertaken a few years prior.

The findings as summarized below contrasted markedly in some areas with the research from mainstream students at the time. Read moreExcalibor's Weblog June 3, 2010

A kind-hearted and adventurous teacher from a Kings Langley school is to relocate to West Africa to teach disadvantaged students and train fellow educators based there. Read moreWatford Observer May 26, 2010

Opened in 2008, the Green School in Bali is an international school with a difference. “Learning by doing” is its motto. The school teaches traditional subjects, but its approach and Green Studies curriculum set it apart. This curriculum is a progression of nature studies, from ecology to environment and sustainability. It deals with topics like permaculture, animal husbandry, and bamboo design technology. Students may alternate between a sit-down math class and learning how to make a solar cooker. Pre-school kids might tend to the goats before class or learn about seeds, soil, light and water. The school is based on Waldorf Education principles, which emphasize holistic, spiritual, and social aspects of education, while nurturing a child’s imagination. Read more The Star Online April 24, 2010

Rudolf Steiner: Alchemy of the Everyday,a traveling exhibition organized by the Vitra Design Museum in collaboration with the Kunstmuseums of Wolfsburg and Stuttgart, opens on May 13 in Wolfsburg, Germany. It will be Steiner’s first major retrospective ever staged outside the anthroposophic community.

Read more by Douglas Brenner New York Times Style Magazine March 30, 2010

One of the things that makes human beings so distinct, and so brilliant, is that our brains are constantly being rewired – a phenomenon known as "plasticity" which means that we can react to and learn from our surroundings. But, as a neuroscientist, there is a question that worries me: given that the brain adapts according to its environment, and the learning environment for our children has been changing in dramatic and unprecedented ways, could that have an unprecedented impact on their development in ways that might be adverse? That certainly seems to be the message from research reported yesterday, which suggested that students are losing the ability to study properly. Read moreThe Telegraph February 12, 2010

A University of Otago researcher has uncovered for the first time quantitative evidence that teaching children to read from age five is not likely to make that child any more successful at reading than a child who learns reading later, from age seven. Read the article here. Voxy News December 21, 2009

Early years education was the focus of a recent international teacher conference held at Ringwood Waldorf School. More than 100 teachers from Australia and Brazil attended the conference to discuss learning for the under sixes through play. Read moreSalisbury Journal November 9, 2009

The Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Rowan Williams, has launched an extraordinary attack on the “oppressive” system of state education in England. In a speech, he said that an “obsession” with repeatedly testing and assessing children undermined their personal, spiritual and emotional development. Read moreThe Telegraph October 21, 2009

In the city of Shefaram, located between Haifa and Nazareth, Arabic children practice their spring theater production. In Hebrew. At a nearby school on Kibbutz Harduf, Jewish children also practice their spring play, in Arabic. Eventually, the Arabic students will perform for their Jewish friends, and the Jewish students will perform for their Arabic friends. The effort is one of many elements that is building a “friendship bridge” between students at two Waldorf schools — one Arabic, one Jewish — in northwest Israel. Read moreJ Weekly October 8, 2009

Thousands of pupils in Denmark learn tree climbing not times tables. But this carefree life for the under-7s is under threat.

It’s a chilly, breezy afternoon in Klampenborg, an affluent suburb just north of Copenhagen. Two dozen children are playing in woodland that lies off the busy main road that leads into the city. Some are clustered around a teacher playing his guitar, others are running in and out of the oak trees in some made-up game. Empty lunch boxes are stacked by a tree and mats are strewn across the grass, evidence of a recent picnic, although it is not quite picnic weather. The children are well wrapped up in fleeces, jumpers and wellies. It looks as if it is an afternoon outing for the local children, a break from the classroom and a chance for a little fresh air. But something quite different is going on here. The wood is the classroom for these children who are pupils at the Klampenborg Skovbo, a forest school. From 8am to 4pm, five days a week, the 25 or so children come to school here, rain, hail or shine. Read more ... The Times October 6, 2009

More than 10,000 people have signed a petition urging the government to scrap Sats tests in primary schools. Teachers have mounted a campaign to end the tests and are threatening to boycott next year's unless the government promises to end them. They say the focus on testing, and the league tables the results feed into, have narrowed the curriculum and forced teachers to teach to the test, undermining children's learning. "Abolish Sats," says author Michael Rosen. 'They're utterly useless and they drive children, teachers and parents nuts.' Read moreGuardian.co.uk September 18, 2009

Several months ago, Architecture for Humanity put designers all around the world to the test in their 2009 Open Architecture Challenge for the Classroom of the Future. The mission? Address the unique issues that schools everywhere are facing in order to provide innovative, cost-effective and sustainable learning spaces for students. Over 400 entries were submitted. The Founders’ Award was given to the Corporación Educativa y Social Waldorf (Waldorf Educational and Social Corporation) in Bogota, Columbia. Designed by Arquitectura Justa, the space is unwalled with a central terrace to act as an open-air classroom. The building itself is infused with natural daylight and constructed from natural materials with a strong focus on sustainable design.

A school of learning that has dance, foot massages, drawing and music in its main curriculum, instead of any textbook learning. Sounds too good to be true? Over 150 students in the city are getting themselves trained (or evolved, as the trainers put it) under this non-conventional method, called the Waldorf System of Education. Immensely popular abroad with more than 900 schools, India has official Waldorf schools only in Mumbai and Hyderabad. Now a school is opening in Chennai.

This fascinating look at early childhood education in three different cultures, and how that education has changed over the past twenty years, is reviewed here. College professor Joseph Tobin provides new insights into the impact of globalization and sweeping social transformation on preschool education in his new book, “Preschool in Three Cultures Revisited: China, Japan, and the United States.” Published in July 2009 by The University of Chicago Press, the book adds a historical dimension to Tobin’s earlier research published in the original “Preschool in Three Cultures,” which was heralded as a landmark study in education in 1989 largely due to his ingenious method for exploring how preschoolers were taught in China, Japan and the United States.

Acrobatics, sword-throwing and musical mantras were displayed at King's Langley Rudolf Steiner School by ‘Daimohk’, a 33-strong dance group from Chechnya. Before taking to the stage, the performers - aged between eight and 18 - held a workshop with the school’s students so they could learn some traditional moves. Read moreWatford Observer July 22, 2009

As a child’s first teacher, parents are in a unique position to understand their child's mood and energy. Many in the field of early education say it's important for parents to take this into consideration when choosing the right preschool for their child. Read more Tehran Times July 1, 2009

Pupils from a Kings Langley school put on their running shoes to raise money for a children’s charity. A group of 25 boys and girls from Rudolf Steiner School raised £1,418 in a 1km sponsored run for the Great Ormond Street Children’s hospital. Read more Watford Observer June 30, 2009

Aberdeen's Belmont Picturehouse is providing the venue for an exhibition by a young north-east artist whose portraits are often faceless, yet revealing. Artist Chloe Gough attended the Rudolf Steiner Waldorf School in Aberdeen. Read moreThe Press and Journal June 26, 2009

Schmidt Hammer Lassen architects has unveiled their new addition to The Rudolf Steiner School in Aarhus, Denmark. The innovative new building, which reflects an interdisciplinary approach to education, has been designed by the practice's partner Morten Schmidt, a former student of the school. Read more and view photographsArchinnovations.com June 3, 2009

A recent article in the London Financial Times Travel section describes the Villa Waldfrieden, home to the sculptor Tony Cragg, as "a remarkable structure built by Kurt Herberts in the late 1940s, a flowing and organic building whose strong sculptural presence was inspired by the ideas of the ethical individualist Rudolf Steiner." Read moreLondon Financial Times May 9, 2009

The obituary in The Guardian, U.K., for David Johnson, describes him as a prolific musicologist, composer, and expert on Scottish heritage. David Johnson attended the Rudolf Steiner School, Edinburgh. He started composing early, and two movements from a work for recorder consort were written when he was 14, and published by Robert Salkeld's Modern Music for Recorders
edition. He took up both the cello and recorder, and became proficient on both. Read moreThe Guardian May 8, 2009

A recent article published in the Bangkok Post relates the importance of painting in the lives of young children, and quotes Khru Mos, art therapist and author of Our Children are Colouring the World, who says that parents should pay more attention to their child's process of creating art, which will allow them to see the unfolding of what he terms the child's Self-inner Development Read moreBangkok Post May 7, 2009

Top playwright Peter Oswald is teaming up with students at Stourbridge’s Glasshouse Arts Centre to take an original powerful drama featuring masks and puppetry on the road around the UK. Inspired by the Temple legend by Rudolf Steiner, the darkly humorous play explores themes of power and vulnerability and centres on wise King Solomon who has a vision of a temple
which could house God on earth, if only he could build it. Read moreStourbridge News May 5, 2009

The Spylaw Road School is this year celebrating its 70th anniversary, and former pupils have come back to the school to share memories and talk to youngsters. Surprisingly, not a lot has changed since the first went through the school gates all those years ago. Rudolf Steiner - which has more than 1000 schools across the world - has its own curriculum, which has remained relatively unchanged over the years. Read moreNews.Scotsman.com May 4, 2009

The Waldorf School Windhoek (WSW) – established in 2000 – is creating a school and centre for vocational training. In addition to the excellent academic education – that already includes much practical training in accordance with the international Waldorf concept – learners of the WSW will, as of 2010, be exposed to craft and agricultural training over and above their normal school education. Read moreNew Era March 3, 2009

News from Egypt:

A crisis intervention team sent to Gaza by the international Waldorf organization, The Friends of Waldorf Education, to help traumatized children has been forced to leave the territory again on the urgent advice of the UN and the German foreign office. Read more February 2009

Global Waldorf: A universal promise of social renewal

From the founding of the first Waldorf school in Germany in 1919, the intention for Waldorf Education has
always been that it should be a worldwide force for social renewal. Emil Molt, the director of a German cigarette
factory and a student of Rudolf Steiner, approached Steiner seeking a new kind of education for the children of
his factory workers-one that would serve as an antidote to the despair gripping Central Europe in the aftermath
of World War I. Steiner responded by opening a school, six months later, for those children. Read More...

Global Waldorf: Waldorf in China

By Harry Wong and Tammy Hughes with Ronald E. Koetzsch
Recently, Renewal received two reports on Waldorf Education in China. One was from Tammy Hughes, an American Waldorf teacher who has taught in the United States and New Zealand and who currently is living and teaching in China. The other was from Harry Wong,one of the founders of the Chengdu Waldorf School, the first Waldorf school in China. The following article is a conflation of those two reports. Since today one human being out of five lives in China and that nation has become a major economic, political, and cultural force in the world,what is happening there in education is of immense importance. Read More...

Leading experts on pre-school education are mobilising in London today against the new national curriculum for under-5s, which they warn risks “making children go backwards” in their development.
Steve Biddulph, the Australian educational psychologist and author, is among a series of high-profile speakers at a conference questioning the basis of the new statutory Early Years Foundation Stage Framework. The Framework prescribes 72 early-learning goals for the under5s, ranging from the bland (“continue to be interested, excited and motivated to learn”) to the ambitious (“understand what is right, wrong and why”) and from the sweeping (“begin to know about their own cultures and beliefs and those of other people”) to the highly detailed (“use their phonetic knowledge to write simple regular words and make phonetically plausible attempts at more complex words”).

Friends of Waldorf Education (Freunde der Erziehungskunst Rudolf Steiners e.V.) support initiatives for a free education world-wide. We have actively promoted Waldorf Education and freedom within the education system since 1971.

We support Waldorf kindergartens, Waldorf schools, other educational initiatives, curative education and social therapeutic institutions as well social work projects.

Important facts about Friends of Waldorf Education in brief

- Each year we pass on over 3 million Euros in donations to over 200 projects.
- We pass on 100% of the donations and finance our co-workers and administrative costs out of members’ contributions and specific donations.
- You can find a list of all the projects we supported last year here.
- Projects co-financed by the Bundesministerium für Wirtschaftliche Zusammenarbeit with around 350.000 Euro per year.